Phi 4 vs Qwen3.8-27B
Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Microsoft · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Phi 4 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-27B is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Phi 4
- you want predictable pricing at $0.07/M input and $0.14/M output
Choose Qwen3.8-27B
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Phi 4 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-27B is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Qwen3.8-27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3.8-27B has 13.1B more parameters than Phi 4, making it 89.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Phi 4 specifies input context (16,000 tokens). Only Phi 4 specifies output context (16,000 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3.8-27B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 does not.
Qwen3.8-27B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Phi 4
Qwen3.8-27B
License
Usage and distribution terms
Phi 4 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3.8-27B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Phi 4 was released on 2024-12-12, while Qwen3.8-27B was released on 2026-08-14.
Qwen3.8-27B is 20 months newer than Phi 4.
Dec 12, 2024
1.7 years ago
Aug 14, 2026
1 weeks ago
1.7yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Qwen3.8-27B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.8-27B's cutoff date.
Jun 2024
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Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Phi 4 and Qwen3.8-27B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Phi 4 vs Qwen3.8-27B.